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I feel that Rydia was definitely the better character, but as far as the main female lead........Rosa

I definitely liked Rosa better, and the beginning of the story basically revolved around her and Cecil.

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eh?

Ok, here's my two cents.

While Rydia was undoubtedly the best female character, I believe Rosa was the lead character. Throughout the game, Rosa was either in your party or Cecil was trying to devise a way to get her there.

But to add a little bit of argument to my own statement, Cecil became somewhat of a parental figure to Rydia. He protected her from the Baronian guards, he "scolded" her when she hit Edward, and he talked her into facing her fears and use a fire spell. It is this attitude toward her that made me wonder why it wasn't Cecil who jumped into the water to save her. It seems that as soon as Rosa is kidnapped, Rydia is forgotten.

The main character's focus is always on Rosa, even cutting to a couple "Meanwhile" scenes that no one else gets. These are the reasons I think Rosa is the main character.

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"Knowledge is power.
Power corrupts.
Study hard; be evil."

*As a general warning, the following opinion contains plot spoilers, although I imagine anyone reading this thread has finished the game anyway*

The lead female role ultimately falls on Rosa's shoulders. Sure Rydia had more development throughout the game, but we knew absolutely nothing about her the moment she was introduced. Rosa, on the other hand, already has a background reflected in both her and Cecil's storylines. Cecil doesn't go through much development himself past becoming a Paladin and rejecting the Dark Knight, and one can even argue that his character really ceases emotional and personality development in Mist when he sets his mind on aiding other countries in the fight against Baron. From there it's a detailed story following the quests, mishaps, and evil he and the rest of the group become involved with as a result of that decision.

If an endless amount of depth was the end all, be all qualification behind lead roles, characters such as Link and Crono would be totally nonessential to their games. In other words, character development is kinda flimsy reasoning.

As we're all aware, Rosa has much more screentime than Rydia and even acts as the center of attention far more than the green-clad summoner. That's understandable; she's Cecil's woman - the character he falls back on and shares a major love theme with (the aptly named "Theme of Love"), not to mention that Cid seems to have a thing for Rosa apart from Cain's lust for her. Rydia does save the day, as instructed by Dramatic Return Rule #8; so does Gilbert/Edward (sans the rulebook), but I don't see that boosting his significance. Rosa has her generous helping of pivotal plot moments too: She prompts Cecil to reveal his true feelings regarding the Mysidia massacre; she follows him through the desert and falls ill, leading to the journey to Damcyan; she gives Rydia the guts to cast a fire spell (it wasn't Cecil); she's kidnapped by the baddie and nearly executed, resulting in that mushy kissing scene with Cecil AND the loss of the Earth Crystal, plus more I probably shouldn't insult everyones' memories by listing.

In the end, Rosa's importance to the plot - including, but not limited to the examples above - outweighs Rydia's. There's simply more focus on Cecil's girlfriend/wife than on the kid-turned-adult. If ya ask me, Rydia really has no more story prominence than either Yang or Edge; hers is just more dramatic and memorable to the player than that of the other supporting party members. I agree that Rydia's the more likeable character, but that's not enough to make her the 'lead' female, if there truly is one.

If it was up to me though, the lead gal would be Yang's wife. Frying Pan of Love is one helluva weapon!

And why the frick do I turn a short, single line answer into a multi-paragraph post?

This post has been edited by SilverFork on 10th November 2005 17:05

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If anything simply cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. - Murphy’s Law

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Rydia kinda looked like a man when she grew up. However, Rydia child was better than Rosa cause you barely see her (Rosa) in the first half of the game (I didn't know she was important until later in the game, which seems odd cause Cecil and Rosa are in a relationship) so I say Rydia (child).

This post has been edited by byblos on 11th November 2005 03:01

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Who is Byblos?

Even if Rosa was more like a main character than Rydia, Rydia has (IMO) a way better and more interesting development, so I say, "Rydia, you go girl!!"

Rosa. Because if a female character has feelings/relationships for the male lead, she is then a female lead.

Quote (NeoEx-Death @ 29th November 2005 01:53)

Rosa. Because if a female character has feelings/relationships for the male lead, she is then a female lead.

That's a great answer with bad logic. There are plenty of examples of what you just described where there's an obvious female lead other than the person in a relationship with the male lead. Look at "A Streetcar Named Desire", for example. The male lead is clearly Stanley. But who's the female lead--Stella, Stanley's wife? Or her sister Blanche?

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Quote (Neal @ 6th October 2002 14:42)

I think that Rosa was the lead in FF4...I mean, each of the two main females was in trouble a few times, yet the reaction from the rest of the party was different.

Rydia:  ::falls off a boat::
Yang:  Let's save her! ::jumps in::
Rest of Party:  Nahhh.

Rosa:  ::kidnapped by Golbez::
Everyone:  OMG!  Let's save her!

I find it weird that they should *ignore* a character just because she isn't a lead female character.

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"Wait!" he says...do I look like a waiter? - Kefka, Final Fantasy VI

I don't think there was a lead at all with the ladies. They all just come and go and come back again. I did, however, choose Rosa since she's Cecil's gal and he's the lead thus making her (somewhat) the female lead.

Excuse me, SiverFork. That was my mistake I noticed just a moment ago. But I still stand by my reasoning and heartily agree with SilverFork's as well. You have Rosa in love with Cecil and Rydia is just a kid who seems to find between Cecil & Rosa, surrogate parents (as those who protect her and make her strive to be a better person). Rosa is involved with most characters as opposed to Rydia who had only Edge, Yang, Cecil and Edward caring at least enough to ask about her.

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"Knowledge is power.
Power corrupts.
Study hard; be evil."